Why every child in Ghana must learn how to code

In a world where everything is digital, it is imperative that we teach our children how to code. We are lagging behind the race for technological glory. Computer code is the language that tells a computer to perform complex tasks. So by teaching coding in our schools our kids will not only end up as end users but also as entrepreneurs and nation builders.

The current computer lCT curriculum in our schools are hinged on teaching student MS office applications rather than teaching them to understand how the computer works and the ability to develop programs. Teaching kids to write documents is in itself not bad but why waste precious instructional hours on basic computer skills that every student can learn on their own due to the availability of self-tutoring videos on platforms like Youtube.

Many countries including UK and Finland are moving from teaching basic computer literacy skills like typing, desktop pblishing and document processing to more advanced skills like  to coding to help students acquire algorithmic skills. These countries have realized that for their future leaders to take full advantage of the digital economy, they need these coding skill set.

However, we in Ghana are still stuck in our old ways of doing things. This means that we are developing children into a digital economy digitally illiterate.   

When you trace the life of the tech moguls of our era like Mark Zuckerberg, Serge Brin and Bill Gates, you come to a realization that by the time they came out with product like Google, Facebook and Microsoft, they had already had more than 10 years’ experience of using the computer for various assignment whiles in my generation, most of us had our first real encounters with computers after we were 18 years. This does not help to bridge the digital divide.

There is the need for the Ministry of Education to take a serious look at the ICT curriculum in the basic and secondary schools and radically restructure it since it does not provide the students with the necessary skill set to take advantage of the digital economy. When you look at what other countries as doing with regards to ICT curriculum, we seem way far behind. A number of countries have introduced coding skills to their students as early as age five. 

Some countries have Computer Science as a subject at the pre-secondary and secondary levels to provide their students with coding skills early in life. No wonder their graduates create all the content and devices whiles ours end up being just end users.

Whiles the Education Ministry delays the design and  implementation of coding into the mainstream curriculum,  schools can take it upon themselves and establish coding clubs that will meet for one or two hours a weeks to teach children the fundamentals of programming. There is abundance of resources for such clubs on the internet. Teaching our kids to code at an early age comes with the following advantage;

Competitive: Computer technology and the internet has made the world flat and a global village. Its implication is that a graduate in Ghana does not only compete with fellow graduates in Ghana but people the world over. I know programmers who live in Ghana and work for fortune 500 companies. The key here is if you know your skills and you are good at what you do, you are in no way limited as to where you take jobs.

Poverty Alleviation: Coding skills are an effective poverty alleviation tool especially for those us in Africa. We in Ghana are always complaining of poverty and lack of jobs for our youth but we can easily give our youth coding skills that will help them to take jobs from elsewhere at a lower wage levels and still have good standard of living. The internet have made this highly possible and all they need is good internet access and a functional laptop or desktop.

Improved analytical skills: When kids learn to code, it will improve the way they analyse and breakdown problems. This will equip them with key project management skills that they can apply to other areas of their lives. It will also strengthens their problem solving skills and logical thinking and supports key academic subjects such as science, mathematics and technology.

Innovative: Coding also help kids to consider different approaches to solving problems they encounter and develop innovative ways to solve them. Learning to code will help students to look at problems in a way they could not have imagined and design innovative approaches to solving them.

Perseverance and focus: Let’s not be deceived, I am not saying our kids will start building mega software in a matter of weeks. It is an open secret that learning to code is a difficult skills to acquire but it also well known that if children are given the opportunity early in life, they turn to perform wonders by the time they reach their teenage years. This is because they build the spirit of perseverance over the years as they take on different projects and this strengthens the self-belief when they encounter difficult task later in life.

So why is coding skills being taught in only a few elite school across the country? The obstacles include an already packed curriculum, lack of computers, inadequate or non-existent power supply  to  schools and teachers who don’t have the skills to teach coding.

However, looking at the numerous benefits of teaching kids coding and the potential it can unlock, I firmly believe we need to fix this sooner rather than later.